


Jack and Ianto: Coffee Shop (short)

by raven_jones



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Canon LGBTQ Character, Canon LGBTQ Male Character, Comedy, First Meetings, Jack Harkness Being Jack Harkness, Jack Harkness Flirts, LGBTQ Character, M/M, Meet-Cute, One Shot, Romantic Comedy, Short One Shot, janto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:41:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27491377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raven_jones/pseuds/raven_jones
Summary: Jack and Ianto's first encounter, the title says it all
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	Jack and Ianto: Coffee Shop (short)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi y'all! So my friend ineternity made a month's worth of prompts for Spydoc, and I'm using the Coffee Shop idea for Janto :)  
> E n j o y

Jack, lying in his bed in the Hub, could only just make out the outline of a figure leaning over him. Words were being said, clothes were being thrown, but he _really_ couldn't care less - he just wanted to sleep.

"Wake up, Sleepyhead!" Gwen smiled, ruffling Jack's hair. Ah, how he wished that he could always wake up to those beautiful Welsh vowels...

Owen's snarky voice lifted above the rest, and Jack winced.

"Oi, dipshit, get up! Owen needs his coffee."

"Why are you talking about yourself in the third person?" Asked Gwen.

"Because, without my morning caffeine fix, I am delusional. Therefore, coffee is a necessity - a human right, if you will." He paused, and joined Gwen in looking down at Jack. "Get. Me. Some. Coffee!" On the last syllable he dived into Jack's bed, like an excitable (and very large) puppy, and starting singing off-key about his lifelong love-affair with a mocha.

"Enough, enough!" Shouted Jack. He rolled out of bed, still swaddled in the duvet. "You'll get your fucking coffee!"

***

As Ianto Jones arranged the flowers on the counter for the twentieth time this morning, he smelt burning.

"Cassandra!" He called. "You've done it again!"

At this, the young woman in the back of the store yelped, and ran out into the main café area, balancing plates, bowls and mugs on all of her limbs.

"Oh fuckfuckfuck, I'm sorry! I forgot, I was-"

Ianto waved a hand in dismissal. "Never mind. Maybe next time, eh?" The girl smiled apologetically at him, and left. Ianto went to turn off the gas and waft away the smell of burnt coffee, sighing. He couldn't help being a little frustrated - why would Marty hire someone who didn't know how to make a simple latte? _But she's an apprentice_ , he reminded himself. _His_ apprentice, in fact - and she'd learn eventually, she just needed time. Not everyone had a knack for these things like Ianto did.

As he headed back out front to take customers (it was only him and Cassandra on Wednesday mornings), the door jingled and in popped an old man.

Well, okay, he wasn't that old. Late 30s, maybe. Good hair - and, woah, good arms. Ianto blushed.

The walk from the door of the café to the counter was agonisingly long, and Ianto fiddled with the flowers some more to avoid Jack's eyes as he approached, marching like he was on a mission. _Ex-soldier?_ Ianto mused.

"Morning," said Jack, leaning an arm across the counter and smiling his charming, lopsided grin at the coffee boy. Ianto smiled back as nonchalantly as he could.

"And what can I get you, sir?"

"Ooh, 'sir', I like it. The British are always so polite." Jack looked past Ianto at the broad display of every drink that this café offered - and there were _lots_. Too many for Jack to process quickly enough to get out of there without embarrassing himself. His gaze shifted back to Ianto.

"Uh, any chance of a bog-standard coffee? I don't understand all this fancy terminology - what's a venti?"

"That means large," said Ianto politely, absent-mindedly polishing a glass.

"Oh. Huh. _I_ shoulda known that."

Ianto froze, knowing that this man was watching him, but he couldn't bring himself to look up. The silence was deafening. What was the appropriate protocol for when a customer made a sexual innuendo to you alone on a Wednesday morning?

Finally catching the man's eye, Ianto audibly swallowed. "Will that be a venti bog-standard coffee, then, sir?"

"Make it four, thanks."

Ianto narrowed his eyes slightly, suspicious. "Difficult week?"

"Ha. Something like that." Jack paused. "It's for my team, too."

"Where do you work?" Clearly Ianto was making small talk, and rather successfully, but he felt idiotic doing it in front of this glamorous, American, coffee-drinking man. As he worked his coffee magic, Jack couldn't help noticing how careful Ianto was: he stirred the milk with a dainty spoon (his pinky finger sticking up like a true middle-class fellow), and kept his eyes on it, looking like he was nurturing a baby. It was, quite frankly, adorable.

"Oh, you know, just in an office," Jack sighed.

"You don't look it, that's for sure. Army surplus?"

"You can talk, suit-in-a-coffee-shop!" They laughed heartily, and both looked up at the same time, and - oh - the eye-contact was _electrifying_. Ianto felt a shiver down his spine, and, God forbid, almost dropped one of the drinks. Jack felt a little tingle, too, and he was far too warm all of a sudden.

Holding his breath, Ianto passed the drinks holder to Jack, hoping that he wouldn't notice his shaking hands.

Of course, Jack noticed. Just before he turned to leave, he asked for the coffee boy's name.

"Jones," he replied. "Ianto Jones."

"Could I have some sugar, Ianto Jones?"

Ianto considered this.

"Is 7pm tonight alright?"

**Author's Note:**

> ✨ Ianto supremacy ✨
> 
> Thank you for reading! Leave a kudos or a comment if you liked and I might do more cute scene prompts soon (because they require far less commitment than an actual story haha)
> 
> Also, if you haven't already, you could totally check out my other Jack/Ianto short story (you won't be disappointed 😉)
> 
> Love u all, stay safe x


End file.
